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t LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 9 



Chap.lFR.&fAl 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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Composite Photography 



APPLIED TO 



THE PORTRAITS OF SHAKESPEARE 



BY 



WALTER ROGERS FURNESS 



FIFTY COPIES PRINTED 




PHILADELPHIA 
ROBERT M. LINDSAY 

18S5 



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PREFACE 



f N Mr Francis Galton's interesting Inquiries into 
■*■ Human Faculty there is a Chapter on what is 
termed "Composite Photographs," by which name is 
designated the final photograph obtained from the ex- 
posure to the same sensitized plate of a series of human 
faces. A photograph thus "composed" presents, accord- 
ing to Mr Galton's ingenious theory, the face typical 
of the group. It was while reading this Chapter 
that the idea occurred to me of trying, by a similar 
process, to obtain a typical portrait of Shakespeare. 
It is not to be supposed that I felt at all sanguine of 
obtaining a satisfactory result. 

The essential element for success, namely, identity of 



4 PREFACE. 

position in the originals, was not to be counted on; all 
that I could hope for, from this somewhat fanciful ex- 
periment, would be, if there be any truth at all in Mr 
Galton's theory, a reflex, very shadowy at best, of the 
most characteristic features in the alleged portraits of 
Shakespeare. At any rate the experiment seemed 
worth trying, and if it satisfies no one it has at least 
interested me. 

Under the guidance of my Father and of Mr Norris, 
the best living authority on the Portraits of Shakespeare, 
to both of whom I here gladly express my affectionate 
and respectful thanks, I selected nine portraits supposed 
to have the best authenticated pedigrees, including the 
Stratford Bust and the Death Mask. In six of these 
the face is turned to the left of the spectator, at nearly 
the same angle ; in the remaining three it is turned in 
an opposite direction. 

The first step was to reduce these portraits, by Pho- 
tography, to the same size. That size was determined 
by the distance, in exactest measurement, between the 
eyes and the mouth. The photographs thus obtained 
were attached to a board by four pins, with the eyes 
and mouths superposed as accurately as possible by 
adjustment in a frame across which were stretched two 
intersecting fine silk threads, one passing horizontally 
through the line of the eyes, the other vertically through 



PREFACE. 5 

the centre of the forehead and the middle of the upper 

up. 

Upon exposing each portrait to the sensitized plate for 
the same number of seconds, namely three, I found 
that the more marked outline of the Stratford Bust un- 
duly predominated, not so much from the character of 
the features themselves, as from the fact that the photo- 
graph was a reproduction of a statue, and conversely 
the Chandos Portrait, dim and dark, failed to express 
itself in the composite. I was therefore obliged to ap- 
portion the exposure to the sensitized plate, allotting 
four seconds to the Chandos Portrait, two seconds to 
the Stratford Bust, and three seconds to each of the 
other four portraits. 

For the like cause in the second group it was found 
on trial, that one and one-half seconds had to be given 
to the Death Mask, and seven seconds to each of the 
other Portraits. 

Merely by way of experiment, three minor Composites 
were made by combining in pairs those portraits which 
seemed to bear to each other the closest resemblance, 
viz.: the Chandos and the Jansen ; the Chandos and the 
Droeshout; the Felton Portrait and the Stratford Bust. 

My thanks are due to the skill and experience of 
Mr W. Curtis Taylor. 

I cannot but think that the photographs on the follow- 



6 PREFACE. 

ing pages reveal a similarity of likeness running through 

portraits which at first sight present a quite dissimilar 

character. 

W. R. F. 

April, 1885. 



There has been an unavoidable delay in obtaining the 
paper for these photographs, and in the meantime it has 
occurred to Mr W. Curtis Taylor, out of the experience 
gained in making these negatives with me, to apply 
"Composite Photography" to the portraits of Washing- 
ton, and the interest manifested by the public in his 
success has given me no little encouragement. 

W. R. F. 

June, 1885. 



A LIST OF THE PORTRAITS. 

face turned to the left. 

Chandos Portrait. Mezzotint by Samuel Cousins. India Paper Proof. 
Published by the Shakespeare Society, 1849. 

Droeshout Portrait. Photo-lithograph. Published by Day & Sons, 
April 9TH, 1864. 

Jansen Portrait. Engraved by Charles Turner. Published by Robert 
Triphook, Jan. ist, 1824. 

Stratford Portrait. Photographed from Original by Cundall, Downes 
& Co. 

Felton Portrait. Engraved by T. Trotter. Published by Wm. Richard- 
son, Nov. ist, 1794. 

Stratford Bust. Photographed from Original by Trupp, Birmingham. 

face turned to the right. 

Marshall's Copy of the Droeshout Portrait. India Paper Proof. Pub- 
lished by Robert Thiphook, 1824. 
Ashbourne Portrait. Engraved by G. F. Storm. Jan. ist, 1848. 
Death Mask. Photograph of Original. 



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